a technical default of the bonds. so, these are big, serious challenges. right now, with the deficit, our financial staff is working hard to analyze the financial data we have received over the last couple of months. we were alarms about the -- we were alarmed about the operating deficit. we were alarmed about the operating ratios. we were alarmed about the bcdc obligations. we have cut expenses vary significantly. we have looked at the revenue side of the equation. nobody likes to get their rent raised. i understand that. we did hire a company to do with -- to do it, a professional

survey certified in california. unfortunately -- actually, fortunately for him, he is not lie( because he has a jurynot duty. but we have set up a meeting with representatives of the advocates for the south beach harbor review to go over the rate methodology. the assignment was to research and verify rental rates, market trends and facilities with an analysis of the range of marina slips. and the conclusion of the survey agrees with what the redevelopment agency stated in 2010. i can reiterate it if necessary. rates were clearly below market. further analysis showed that the brits call for increases and reflected how much -- that the

rates call for increases and reflected halt below market they are. but such rate increases will likely have to be phased in over time. we talked about a number of different proposals, trying to be clever and creative, to come up with a painless way to increase revenue. and we looked at various options dealing with a two-tier parking system for residents. we have concerns about the legality with the state lands. we debated different areas. after mulling it over, we think that the san francisco marina, where the america's cup is going to be this coming weekend, the new harbor, it offers a new option for the poor to look forward -- look -- for the port to look to. there is a west and east marina.

it is the only other publicly- managed marina in san francisco. the only other marina managed by the city is the treasure island, privatized by the city. we think san francisco marina, while notv]v][$ exactly the sas south beach, offers the same amenities in terms of quality of service. there are other areas like sausalito. we understand the difficulty of observing our rate increase, a significant rate increase right away. that is why we are proposing a three-year staged approach with increases until the rate parity reaches san francisco marina. i must admitrlrlsr there is onef report you have been given.

might cut and paste -- my cut and paste skills with lotus were not what i thought they were. i believe we have the updated data on our website. this has been approved by the parks and rec commission. it has been approved by the board of supervisors. we will continue to have conversations with stakeholders on january 1. the last one is a 2015. the harbor is fully leased. we have a substantial waiting list going forward. other changes we have discussed -- reading the list right now, there is a one-time waiting list that is a $75 per year list.

electrical usage. it is a tricky one. unlike most marinas, south beach marina does not have individual marinas for each slit. you pay what you use. -- for each slip. you pay what you use. one way to listen to more creative minds than ours is to go to the boat users of the harbor. we recommend prioritizing implementation of meters into the harbor, at which time, the rates would be reduced by 54 cents per month to offset collection charges. and last, certainly not least,

parking. to the boat owners and to the slip owners' credit, not that parking was there before the marina was ever even thought of. it is highly stressed by the proximity to downtown, the ballpark, the community. you have boaters going to ball games or special events. they have limited ability to get to their boats. it is kind of a matter of the loaves and the fishes. there are 205 parking spots. is just a matter of supply and demand. i think everybody can concur, not the use of the parking lot related to special parking, --

about the use of the parking lot as related to special parking. i have already got an e-mail from what we are going to do about a. it is a real issue. currently, each boater gets two parking passes. it is premature free-for-all down their. they have the ability to buy a second for $50 per annum. we think that will give more value. and it will be a step forward in managing the parking operations. on street parking, but that is a small lot. is pretty much free parking. we think it should be metered like the st.. it would raise some revenue for us. we want to make sure there are spaces in the beirut area.

we are suggesting a five-space loading zone. that would be modified. so, we have done a lot of work. we have a lot more work to do. we know it is a difficult item and i hate to be the one to suggest to people rates are going up. we continue to work with them going forward. we have had continued relationship with the stakeholders. our mind is open. we are looking for creativity. we have looked at a lot of different areas. we will continue to work with them going forward. i will be glad to answer questions. >> thank you, peter. we do have substantial public comment. i want to echo what peter has said, that we to understand this is a difficult issue for stakeholders. but i think that is why we're having an informational session

today to hear your comments and have more discussion. and i hope that you can accept that change is difficult. change probably does have to happen. we are just trying to figure out how to manage the change for everybody involved. with that in mind, we will hear comments from ken. i will mention the next name so you're ready to come up. jess rampos -- ramos. >> thank you for the opportunity to speak. in a recent member of the advocates for south beach harbor. i am on a fixed income. i understand you have the same problem with the finances here, although on a much bigger scale. the need to be solved, but the solution does seem little

severe. 43% increase is -- whew. a lot. the parking situation to me is equally severe. sailboats require a number of people to safely move them around. putting everybody in one car is an impractical kind of thing. solving the problem by squeezing everybody else so they have no way to get into the parking lot or get access, a $600 extra fee for that, that also seems excessive. are reasonable fee and adequate space come up -- a reasonable t

electricity. charging by the floods is coming to me, -- by the foot, to me, there has got to be a better way to pull that one of. there are boats that do not use electricity. some use quite a bit. but to charge by the links, there is no relationship between the use of electricity and the length of the slip or the boat. but i understand there has been a lot of discussion. probably they have less to do with the problems of people who were in it, and we seem to be the ones being asked to bear the brunt of the solution to this problem. there has been what i consider a pretty feeble effort to reform.

i have known about this, and i would like to see a lot more time for us to be able to address this. we have 700 members. i doubt that they know that this has been going on in south beach. so, that would be the bottom line for me. thank you. >> thank you. jess and after him, mike perody. >> good afternoon, commissioner. i am a longtime san franciscan who happens to be a partner at south beach harbor. the rates for berths will make

south beach harbor one of the most expensive marinas in the san francisco bay area. i understand you are considering charging for extras if they wish to park in the south beach harbor when they visit the marina. whatever your reasons may be for such sharp and drastic increases in fees, the result would be to force many middle income san franciscan boaters to sell their boats or try to find a berth in the east bay or the peninsula. as you know, it converted a blighted area into a desirable place to live and work. it was intended from the beginning to be a community facility, and i would imagine it was primarily for the city's residents. it has been a tremendous

success. the dramatic fee hike you are considering now is evidence of that success. unfortunately, the higher fees may compel many to leave the marina we built. this is not right. another example of what i consider unfair to san franciscans is the first-come, first-served assignment of berths. a san franciscan it may have to -- a sentences and may have to wait years. i understand only 50% of berth holders are san francisco residents. the concerns i have listed above should be addressed and i have suggestions i hope you will

consider. please consider implementing something like a two-tier fee structure at south beach harbor. san franciscans should not be penalized for the city's success in turning around the south beach area. we have been a part of the city's efforts to improve the area. san franciscan residents should be -- should not be charged any greater amounts than is being charged the other municipal or -- municipal marinas in the bay area. i am almost finished. the residents pay less at golf courses. residents visit the city's botanical gardens and do not pay well residents do. please consider giving san

francisco residents some advantage over non-residents in getting a berth at south beach harbor. south beach harbor could soon be filled with anyone but san franciscans. >> ok. mike. >> commissioners, my name is m mike. i was born and raised in san francisco. i am not rich. there is an impression that anybody who has a boat has a lot of money. i have very little money or enough money to get by in san francisco, because the prices of san francisco have astronomically increase. i am middle-class, r. carpenter, and i was not able to afford a boat until i was in my 50's

because i had to get my daughter through college. i am a property owner. my taxes paid to develop the area that is now going to raise my rent. i am not being considered part of the solution. i feel i am being forced out of an area i have lived in all my life. and it is not fair. i have a book next to me that, believe it or not, has a coral reef underneath it. the boat has never left the dock. the guy who has his boat they're only has it there to go to the ballpark. he is not a boater. he is subhuman as far as i'm concerned. [laughter] he is using that, and a lot of people are on the waiting list, especially residents of san francisco, to get their boats there. i also believe there should be a

two-tier rating system for residents to have paid for the bonds to build up that area. i think a resident should be given priority. especially senior citizens. i am retired now. i am on a fixed income. i cannot afford to pay the increases these people are suggesting. established. to justify our being here. i just hope that you bring some of what i said into the talks, because we will not goal by. thank you. commissioner ho: thank you. bruce and after that robert. >> i am bruce, a slip holder at south beach and also a member of the yacht club.

thank you for listening. just as a comment -- i do not know if you are responsible for turning around here 29 after the fire, but it is amazing. someone needs to be commended for that. to get insurance paid, to start reconstruction going, we all appreciated. i would back up the previous comments, because there is some real hardship for some of the people there, and there are both growing beards there really are not -- there are boats growing beards that really are not sailing or boating. i think there needs to be a tighter rein on that. just a quick grocery list. $10 per crewmember per visit is pretty severe. these are sailboats. very few of them can be sailed alone. the past system is working now. it seems to me to be very satisfactory.

the one-car permit per berth might be better to be per owner, because some cannot have it boats. i think needs to be a differentiation their. changing the parking seems to be something like fixing something that is not broken. we have an overflow and it seems to be fine the way it is. the idea of using the gate only to control parking -- there seems to be an art in the bay area. there are those who get in very quickly with the car in front of them. the much talked-about and much

delayed embarcadero line -- you have all these properties under your authority. we need one line to serve the whole waterfront. i ask muni people. it is always going to be done in two years. if you have any clout, please use the. we got a lot of sun and solar. maybe that is something we should be looking at. thank you very much. commissioner ho: robert, and after robert, paul. >> my name is robert woods. w0w0ó guys who can afford a boat by sharing costs. to keep the boat in shape by doing our own maintenance.

i am not here to talk about the marina parking lot. our boat is 33 years old. you could not buy a decent used car for what we could get for it. if we keep it in good ceiling condition and assailant -- good sailing condition and still three times a month -- and sail it every month of the year. by the way, since the last increased rent, my retirement income has gone up less than 4%. boating is our recreation. we do not engage in any other recreational activities that the city regularly subsidizes to enhance the quality of life for

its residence. as an example, it would cost a non-resident $170 to pay -- to play around of all. i could pay these -- i could play the same round of golf for $71. the city regularly accomplishes improving quality of life by giving residents access to more recreational opportunities. we had a few boats that were not revenue-generating enterprises. perhaps they should pay rent at a rate that is commercially opprobrious. besides -- commercially appropriates. besides the slip times and the adjacent property maintained by the courts out.

-- by the port staff. folks both young and old who bike and jog enjoyed the benefits. parents and grandparents bring their children and grandchildren along the waterfront. they are fascinated with the activity of boats coming and going. they eat lunch or just enjoy watching the marina activity. people frequently what pat's or fished off the pier. -- walk pets or fish off the pier. you get the point. this is a quality of life issue.

the marina residents cannot be asked to shoulder the obligation of the city government's. we need a strategy to address the shortfall, one that addresses the quality of life for all marine the beneficiaries and citizens. thank you. commissioner ho: paul and then john. >> good afternoon, commissioners. as the commodore of the south beach marina yacht club, i thank you for managing in south beach harbor. as you referred, it is very important for residents of san francisco. it is their single most importance, if not only,

recreational opportunity. in many ways, this represents the best and highest user ++thes a key role in accessibility and affordability for access to the waterfront. it is a key to the conversation we have been having with stakeholders and with sports staff. we generate about $100,000 of revenue for the port of san francisco and the city in taxes

and rental fees we pay. we make it possible for the bay area association to give sailors a place to meet and get on the water, as well as turn in four events and other programs. our racing programs and other things get hundreds of people on the water every month. it is a way to enjoy and access the water and provide direct support to the harbor. there are a couple of things you have heard already. i do not need to drill into the affordability items to a great sense -- to a great extent. there is cost parity with the san francisco marina, taking a look at that. we look at the cost versus the san francisco marina, since there are some freebies' the san francisco marina berth holders get. we understand that our fees were

supposed to go toward debt repayment, and they have not been. there are program participants, racing programs, to trust be parking for the broader stakeholder group, as well as the volunteers and the people who make those programs run. there are some solutions we are exploring like specific event parking. the plan for pier 40 has not been put together. that is how to do it. >> john? >> hi. i am a slip holder oat south

beach. just doing my precinct walking, which i have done a around the city for years, i've walked mind -- i walked my slips. i have a 43-year-old boat. >> it is a pretty 1. >> yes, our little cal30 is a pretty little boat. i have talked to people on those stocks, and almost every one of them have never heard of what is going on your. be out reach is nonexistent. putting it in a bill in search is not a good way to reach us when we pay electronically. i just pay automatically every month. i